Decay
by pikapikatchu
Summary: Running into an old acquaintance can be a pleasant surprise or an inconvenience.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys!**

**Here's my new story, I hope you like it! Have fun!**

**Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

* * *

"Give it a rest, Nick. It's been weeks, why can't you just forget about it?" Greg and Nick were walking inside the police station, discussing a problem Nick was dealing with at the moment.

"Because I thought he was my friend and he backstabbed me like that!" Nick replied furious.

"I know, but what's done is done. And he's not the only one responsible."

"What, now it's my fault?!" Nick was just getting angrier at Greg's attempts to solace his friend.

"No, of course not. I didn't mean it that way. But don't you think Jeannie is to blame, too?"

"...I never had time for her, it's not her fault."

"So it is your fault?"

Nick gave him a venomous look. "You just said you don't think it is."

"...You just said you... Ah, forget it. All I'm saying is that it takes two people to cheat. Well, three actually..."

"Could you just stop talking?" Nick rolled his eyes. "I can't hear that right now."

"I'm not saying you should forgive Jason, but you're still so angry with him. It's unhealthy." Greg worried about Nick. Ever since his girlfriend Jeannie cheated on him with his friend Jason, he hardly talked about anything else. "Besides, you only knew her for, like, a month."

"It's not about her! Friends just don't do this to each other!"

"I know! But still, try to forget about him. He's not worth feeling bad."

"So you're saying you could forgive him?" Nick asked rather amused. He couldn't believe anyone would be able to excuse a betrayal like that.

"Of course. I don't hold grudges."

"Really?" Nick asked warily. "There's not one single person you wouldn't want to walk across right now?"

"Like who? I never lost any friends over some fights, I don't have enemies." Greg was sounding quite confident.

"What about Steven Harris?"

"...How dare you mention that name." Greg gave Nick a rather angry look.

Nick laughed. "I knew it. You're still not over it."

"That's different! He stole my car!"

"...Your remote-controlled toy car. When you were twelve."

"He knew how much it meant to me! Papa Olaf got it for me from Norwegian! And that fool broke it."

Nick patted him on the back. "See? It's perfectly normal to hold grudges."

"Come on, if he'd come through that door now and walk up to me, I'd talk to him. We were kids, I'm sure he's changed now."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Sure..." They walked up to Brass. "Hey, you said you got us a witness?"

Brass nodded. "Follow me."

They walked into the interrogation room.

"Sanders?" The witness asked. "Is that you?"

* * *

"You know him?" Brass asked surprised as he closed the door.

"I don't think so..." Greg replied. "What's his name?"

"Riley. Riley Fishman!" the witness said quite joyful. He had a very rough exterior. Scruffy brown hair and beard with lots of gray strands in it. "Long time no see, dude. You're a cop now?" He laughed. "Never would've thought that."

Greg had a weird face impression. Neither Brass nor Nick could really figure out what was going on inside him now.

"Greg? Who is this guy?" Nick asked confused.

"He... I... We went to high school together."

"Well if you were friends in high school you can't work the case anymore," Brass said, handing Nick Fishman's rap sheet.

"We weren't friends." Greg walked out.

* * *

Greg was in the DNA lab with Robin when Nick walked up to him. "Hey. What was that about?"

"Nothing." Greg grabbed the DNA results and walked out, Nick followed.

"Nothing? What was that look on your face about? Who is this guy?"

"Did he say anything useful?"

Nick shook his head. "Crackhead who just wanted to get something positive out of his current situation. He was arrested for drug possession two weeks ago and was hoping he'd get a lower sentence if he helped us."

"Drug possession? That figures..." Greg said under his breath.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

"Okay. Say that one more time and I'll kick you," Nick replied annoyed. "Would you just tell me who that guy is?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "Earlier, when you asked me about people I didn't want to come across... He's on top of my list. He **is **the list." They walked into the empty break room and sat down. "He's a year older than me, but we were in the same class. He failed third grade. And, well, as you know, I wasn't exactly popular in high school. I was an outcast and he didn't help matters. Bullied me around, stuff like that. Most people just didn't pay much attention to me, but he made my high school years living hell."

"I didn't know that..."

"Because I don't like to talk about it. For the past years I tried to forget it ever happened and it kind of worked. Seeing him again is like reliving everything he's ever done to me."

"Like what?"

Greg shook his head. "It's bad enough reliving it in my head, no need to talk about it."

"You're sure?"

He nodded.

"Well, if you change your mind, I'm here." Nick gave him a faint smile.

"Now that he's out of my life again, I can go back into denial and pretend this never happened, either!" He put on a happy face, already starting to pretend.

* * *

Greg was putting his happy face on a bit too early. The next day, he ran into Riley Fishman again.

"What up, dude?" Riley asked with a stupid grin on his face.

Greg startled a bit when he saw him. He was caught by surprise. "What... What are you doing here?" They were in the police department's parking lot.

"Well, I'm on my way inside, but was hoping to see you here."

Greg nodded. "...Why?"

"...To catch up! You know, I want to hear the story of how you became a frickin' police officer!" Riley laughed.

"I'm a CSI, not a cop," he replied dry.

Riley nodded with an awkward pause. "So tell me, how did that happen?"

"Is this going to take much longer? I really need to go."

"Come on, man..." he said, looking quite nervously as Greg was walking past him.

"...'Come on', what?" Greg turned around.

"I don't know, I... I need your help..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! ****Here's a new chapter! Thank you all for the Reviews. Big thanks to the Guest who caught my mistake of writing Norwegian instead of Norway XD Not sure I made that mistake because English's my second language or out of lack of concentration or anything, but thanks! No matter how often I re-read my stuff, I miss some of the mistakes I make. Sorry for that!**

**But now enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

Greg was sitting in the break room with a thoughtful look on his face, thumping his fingers on the table. Riley Fishman asked him for a favor, but he didn't even want to hear what it was. Riley gave him his phone number in case the CSI changed his mind, he really looked like he needed Greg's help badly. And now, Greg was both curious and feeling guilty. He didn't even give him a chance. He was staring at the piece of paper Riley wrote his number on when Nick walked in.

"Hey." He walked over to the coffee machine. "I'm dead beat! I talked to Jeannie on the phone for hours, I didn't get much sleep." He fixed himself a cup and sat down next to Greg.

"Did you solve your problems?" Greg asked, trying to concentrate on Nick, but he kept on staring at the paper.

He shook his head. "She apologized, I yelled at her, I apologized, she yelled at me." He laughed humorlessly. "And then she told me she's not seeing Jason anymore."

Greg finally looked at Nick, with a confused look. "I thought she said it was a one-time thing?"

"I thought so, too! But obviously I was wrong about that. I asked her how long this has been going on... Three weeks!"

Greg raised his eyebrows. "You knew her a month and she started cheating on you after the first week?"

Nick nodded angrily. "Screw them both, I don't need this."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said before looking at the paper again.

"What's this?"

"...Riley Fishman's phone number."

"Why would you have it?" Nick asked, sipping from his coffee.

Greg shrugged his shoulder. "He said he needed my help, then gave it to me."

"What does he need from you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Didn't ask. I mean, how weird is it? He used to bully me in high school, we don't see each other for almost 20 years and now he needs something from me?"

"Then throw his number away. He doesn't deserve your help."

"You're probably right!" Greg scrunched up the paper and threw it in the trash can.

"Now, doesn't that feel good?" Nick asked with a smile on his face.

* * *

Throwing away the paper didn't actually help much. After staring at it for so long he remembered the number. He contemplated calling him, but he didn't really want to. _Just forget it ever happened and go on with your life, _he thought. He put his phone on the coffee table and sat down on his couch, exhaling relieved shortly before he heard a knock on his door. Riley was standing outside. "I really hoped you'd call," he said a bit disappointed.

"What... what are you doing here? How did you know where I live?"

"Oh please, it's not that hard to figure out. I followed you home!"

Greg looked both surprised and confused. "Okay... I'm gonna close the door now. Goodbye."

He tried to close the door, but Riley put his foot in the way. "Please, let me in! I need to talk to you."

"Leave! I'm not interested in helping you!"

"Please!" Riley said, thrusting the door open and walking in.

"What the hell?!" Greg wasn't sure if he should be annoyed or scared. Annoyance clearly made the race, though.

"Please, Greg, hear me out... Five minutes, that's all I'm asking!"

* * *

"He wanted money?!" Nick asked astonished.

"Mhm..." Greg said as they were walking towards a crime scene in the desert.

"Why the hell is he asking **you** for money?"

"He said he doesn't have any family or friends left, he lost touch with them after he moved to Vegas and got into drugs."

"And how much does he want?"

"I'd rather not say," Greg said with a smile on his face. "He said he got into trouble when he started gambling, owes some bad people a lot of money."

"So what did you say to him?"

"I told him off! I don't know him, don't like him and know he's an addict. I'd be stupid to give him even a few dollars, I know I'd never see it again."

"And he accepted that?"

"Well, he begged for a while and then stopped. I told him I could arrange for protection if needed, but he didn't want to. He said he was hungry and asked for something to eat..." he explained as he rolled his eyes.

Nick gave him a look.

"Yeah, yeah. I gave him a sandwich."

The older CSI laughed as he shook his head.

"What? I feel sorry for him. He's not the person he was in high school. I never would've thought that would be a bad thing."

When they walked up to the dead body David was bending over, Greg looked shocked for a moment. He exhaled in relief pretty quickly.

"What is it?" David asked.

"Nothing. He just looks like someone I know," he replied, pointing at the body.

Nick nodded. "Looks a lot like Riley Fishman."

* * *

After an exhausting double shift, Greg finally got home. He was looking forward to taking a shower and watching some TV before going to bed, but it didn't quite plan out like that. When he walked in, the first thing he spotted was his TV rack. The TV was missing, as well as his video games and stuff like that. He quickly went into the bedroom to check if something was missing there, too. His savings book, his laptop, everything of value was gone.

* * *

"Do you have any idea how he got in?" an officer asked Greg while Nick was standing next to him.

"He must've taken my spare key, I guess..."

"Did you let him alone... in your apartment?" Nick asked surprised.

"I was in the kitchen fixing the sandwiches while he was going to the bathroom. I didn't know I had to watch every step he took!"

"Why did you even let him in in the first place? You're too trustful!"

"Let him in? Nick, he practically forced his way in, I had no choice."

"Yes you did. Why didn't you call the police? Or me?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "I thought it was okay to talk to him. I didn't trust him, I just didn't think he'd..."

Nick sighed. "Let's just hope they'll find him..."

* * *

"Oh Greg, good. There you are..." Hodges said, walking into the break room. Henry followed behind.

Greg was sitting there eating an apple. "What's up?"

"Well you know, there's this guy on the strip who wears a bra as a hat... You know him, right?"

Greg raised an eyebrow. "I've seen him there begging for money while dancing. Why?"

"Well it's your expertise, isn't it? Do you think he'd like tuna or egg salad while he robs you?" Hodges laughed hysterically while Henry chuckled.

"Oh, how original. And that comes from a guy whose girlfriend stole from him several times."

"...You're tacky." Hodges gave him an annoyed look.

Greg rolled his eyes. "Henry, did you get a result on my blood sample yet?"

"No, I..."

"Then don't waste your time making fun of me, get to work!"

"Geez, what's wrong, Sanders? Are you on your period?" Hodges asked with a grin on his face.

"I just don't appreciate you two making fun of me. I'm not proud of what happened."

"If you were proud, there would be no point in making jokes about it, would there?"

Greg sighed. He knew these two were just trying to be funny, but it made him kind of relive his high school years.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we go again!**

* * *

Two days later, Riley Fishman was still nowhere to be found. The police did their best to find him, but to no avail. They found his fingerprints all over Greg's place but that didn't help them in any way. Greg tried to get on with his life as if nothing happened, replacing the stuff Riley stole. He didn't have time to change the locks, though. He figured it wasn't a priority since Riley wouldn't come back, anyway. He figured he probably already left the city.

On that day, Greg came back home from grocery shopping with his hands full with bags. He'd been at work for ten hours before that. After he walked in and closed the door behind him, he heard a noise coming from his bedroom. He stopped to listen. He didn't hear it again and didn't know what kind of noise it was, so he decided to take a look. Nothing and no one to be seen. He walked into the kitchen to put away the things he just bought. While doing so, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He startled, but couldn't make a sound since another hand was put on his mouth.

"Sssshht!" Riley Fishman pressed his hand on Greg's mouth while pushing him against the kitchen counter.

Greg stared at the man terrified.

"Let me explain," Riley replied rather calm. "I needed a place to stay." He slowly got his hand off of Greg's mouth.

The CSI looked confused. "...What the hell?!"

"Listen. I waited until you left for work and then came in, slept, showered, stuff like that... And left before you came home."

Chills were running down Greg's spine. "I don't believe this... You steal everything I own and then come back here to take a nap?! What's wrong with you?" He pushed Riley away from him.

"I don't have anywhere else to go! I needed to hide..."

"...Hide? From what?" Greg's cell phone was ringing, but he was too distracted to answer it.

He looked at Greg. "...I still owe them money."

"...What?!"

"Your stuff's not nearly as valuable as I thought it would be! You blocked all your accounts so all I got left with was your TV, laptop, video games and stuff... And that wasn't enough."

"Excuse me, are you nagging about my stuff not being good enough to steal right now?" Greg asked annoyed.

"Okay, calm down. I told you I needed your help and you turned me down! What did you expect?!"

"...That you'd accept this, leave and get out of my life forever. What any decent person would do. Oh wait that's right, you're not a decent person!"

"Calm down already, will ya?! I'm sorry, I just... I'm so screwed, man, so screwed..." He buried his face in his hands, walking out into the living room.

Greg didn't know what to do, so he followed him. "I'm gonna call the police now."

"What? No! Please don't do that! I can't go to jail!"

"They'll protect you from... whoever you owe money to."

"They'll just throw me in jail and that's it!"

Greg grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. "They'll get you the help you need..."

"I said no..." Riley walked up to Greg in a threatening manner, taking a knife out of his pocket. "Gimme the phone."

Greg started dialing. "Don't worry, I'll..." He stopped when he saw Riley with the knife in his hand. "...What are you doing?"

"Give it to me!" He forcefully grabbed the phone out of Greg's hand and threw it on the couch. "You have any cash?"

"Only a few bucks in my wallet..."

"Hand it over."

"...You can't be serious." Greg got his wallet out of his pocket rather angrily. "Here, take my last 136 bucks!" He threw the money at him. "Now get the hell out of here!"

"...There's gotta be more!" He grabbed Greg by his collar and shook him in desperation. Greg tried to fight Riley off. He was successful, but cut his arm on the knife the intruder had in his hand. The moment Riley saw the blood streaming down Greg's arm, he took off with the 136 dollar the CSI gave him.

Greg needed a minute to digest what just happened. He stood there, staring at the door Riley had left open on his way out. When his mind started working clearly again, he grabbed a towel and applied pressure to the knife wound. While waiting for the bleeding to stop, he grabbed his cell phone. He had one missed call by Nick.

* * *

"Why you didn't change the locks is beyond me!" Nick walked angrily inside the hospital, Greg followed behind.

"I was working non-stop in the last few days, Nick. I just didn't have the time! I was hardly home!"

"You could've told Russell you needed a day off to take care of it. You could've asked one of us to take care of it!"

"I simply thought he wouldn't go back there. They usually don't."

"They usually don't know the people they rob, Greg." Nick rolled his eyes before approaching the hospital's desk clerk.

"Blaming me doesn't help at the moment. I was naïve, I admit that." Greg sat down in the waiting area.

"Your naivety could've cost you your life, you know." Nick walked over to sit down next to him. "Put more pressure on the wound."

"I know how to take care of a cut, Nick." Greg was as frustrated as Nick was, and they both were getting at each others nerves at the moment.

"Yeah but you're doing it wrong. You don't want to bleed out, do you?" Nick grabbed the towel Greg had put on the wound and pressed it against the wound himself.

"Nick, I can do that myself..." Greg sighed. He was too tired to fight with Nick over this, so he let him do what he thought was right.

* * *

When Greg came back to work after the altercation with Riley, Russell talked with him about it in his office for one straight hour. Most of that time, he gave him the same speech Nick already gave him, how he was naïve for waiting to change the lock. The supervisor also expressed his worries. Greg walked out of the office quite weary and with a sad look on his face. He was well aware of the fact that it was a stupid idea to trust that Riley wouldn't come back and he was sick and tired of people telling him. "Charlotte, I'll need the results to these as soon as I can." He handed the ballistics tech a box with five guns as he walked into the lab.

"Sure thing, Greg. Listen, I heard what happened with that Fishman guy." She gave him a caring smile. "I can teach you some Krav Maga if you want to."

He raised his eyebrow rather annoyed. "Thank you but... I think I'm gonna pass on that one."

"It's quite effective. This guy once grabbed my ass at a club and I kicked him so hard in the knee, he's probably still lying there trying to get up!" She laughed as she patted his arm.

He shook his head. "Just get your work done." He walked out with his head down low. For the moment, his spirit was broken. He felt like going home and sleep until this was all over.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope you like the story so far!**

* * *

Greg felt a bit down for the next few days. A state that wouldn't change too soon. Running late for work, his stress level was already high. It instantly rose up as he found his car stolen.

* * *

"Why didn't you check?!" Nick asked furiously, walking up and down in the break room.

Greg had finally arrived at work, an hour late, and all he could do was listen to Nick's rant. "How often do you use your spare car key? I didn't even think of it."

"Did you even know where you had it?"

"I feel bad about it already, okay? No need to rub it in my face."

"I'm not! I'm trying to help you."

"Well maybe you could try another approach. Yelling at me won't help at all." He rolled his eyes as he got off his seat.

"Yeah? So what would help you?"

"I don't know! Anything but telling me that it's my own fault! Because I know that already!"

Nick sighed. "So what now?"

He shrugged. "Wait and hope that he'll get caught by the police soon. There's nothing we can do at the moment, I guess."

* * *

Three days later, Greg was running late for work again. His mind was scattered lately as he had a lot to think about. It caused his work performance to drop noticeable and Russell was getting frustrated with him because of it. "Call me back as soon as you get that message." The supervisor hung up his phone annoyed as Nick walked into the office.

"What's going on?" he asked concerned.

"Greg's not in yet. Do you know where he is?"

Nick shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't. What's going on with him?"

Russell shrugged. "I get that he's frustrated with the whole Riley Fishman thing, but his work's suffering because of it. He needs to get his act together soon or..." Russell got interrupted by Nick's cell phone ringing. "...You should take that."

Nick nodded as he did. "Stokes."

"_Hello Mr. Stokes. I'm calling from the Desert Palm hospital. I've got you listed as Greg Sanders' emergency contact."_

"...What happened? Is he alright?"

"He's been in a car accident."

* * *

Nick was walking up and down the hospital's waiting room all agitated and nervously. "Why won't they let us see him? That's a bad sign..."

"I'm sure they're still working on him, Nick. It's no sign at all." Russell was nervously tapping his foot without looking at Nick. It would only make him more nervous.

A doctor walked up to them with a devastating look on his face.

"...Oh god, no," Nick said, preparing for the worst.

"He's left the hospital," the doctor said to them.

"...What? I don't understand, is he...?"

He shook his head. "His injuries are very serious. We were able to stabilize him, though. But when he was unattended for a few minutes he left."

"...You mean you lost him. Why was nobody with him?!" Nick asked outraged, trying hard not to yell too loudly.

"There was no reason to believe he'd take off. I honestly didn't even think he had the strength to do it, with his injuries... It's important he gets back in here. Do you have any idea where he could go?"

* * *

"I don't get it. Why would he leave the hospital?!" Nick walked angrily up to Greg's apartment to open it. Both him and Russell walked in. "Greg?!"

Russell looked around. He couldn't detect a single hint that Greg had come here after the accident. Not even a blood drop or footprint was here. He walked into the bedroom. "Doesn't look like he came here to get some clothes. I don't think he's been here, Nick."

"He must have! Where else would he go? And why?"

Russell gave Nick a worried look. "Maybe he has a head injury and doesn't think straight."

"Don't say that. I'm sure he's fine!"

The supervisor sighed deeply. "I sure hope so..."

* * *

"_He wasn't at your place, either, Nick. I'm sorry." _Sara was talking over the phone with Nick, standing inside his apartment. They had hoped Greg was there, but they were in no luck.

"Alright. Thank you. Call me as soon as you get any news." Nick had a sad look on his face. He was close to giving up.

"_I will. You, too."_

"I don't get it! I don't understand what's going on!" Nick yelled while they were walking out of Greg's apartment building.

Russell had a thoughtful look on his face. "I have a feeling it has something to do with Riley Fishman. Maybe he was responsible for the accident and Greg's... seeking revenge or something like that."

Nick hastily shook his head. "He'd never do that. Do we even know he wanted to leave the hospital?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if he was taken against his will? The security in Desert Palm sucks. Nobody would've probably noticed."

"You think Fishman took him?"

"Maybe. Who knows? I think he's crazy enough to do something like that. They said they gave Greg enough sedatives to make him sleep for a few hours. How did he just walk out of there, then?"

Russell nodded. "You might be right."

* * *

Russell and Nick were back at the hospital to talk to some doctors and nurses the next day, hoping to find out if somebody saw anything when Greg supposedly left the hospital willingly. But so far, it appeared that nobody had seen anything. They walked through the hospital in desperation as they started talking to patients in and near the hospital room the young CSI was in before he got lost.

"...What are you doing in here?" a nurse asked as she walked into a hospital room with four patients in it. Russell and Nick had just started talking to the first one.

"We're with the crime lab. We have a few questions to the patients in this room," Nick explained.

She raised her eyebrow. "Well you have to leave now." She opened the curtain to one of the beds to administer a bag of fluids to the patient. Both Nick and Russell's eyes almost popped out as they looked at the patient. It was Greg.

"...What the hell?! How long has he been in here?!" Nick yelled at the nurse.

She looked at him shocked. "Just came in two hours ago. Why?"

"...That's Greg Sanders! We were looking for him! He left the hospital yesterday after being treated for a car accident." Nick looked Greg up and down. He couldn't find any injuries on him that indicated a car accident. "What the hell's going on?!"


	5. Chapter 5

**We've already reached the very last chapter, guys! I hope you enjoyed this rather short story! A new one will follow in a few days, I think! Until then, take care!**

**Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

* * *

"We're so sorry," the doctor who talked to them yesterday about Greg's disappearence said remorseful. "He didn't have an I.D. on him, we had no idea who he was."

"So what happened to him? You said he had serious injuries from a car accident just yesterday. He doesn't have a scratch on him now."

"Well... This seems to have been a big misunderstanding. The man we treated yesterday had Mr. Sanders' I.D. with him. His face was banged up beyond recognition, but since he had the driver's license and was driving in Mr. Sanders' car when the accident occurred, we figured it must've been him."

Nick nodded impatiently. He turned to Russell. "So Fishman's the one with the injruies. Figures that he left before we could talk to him, I guess." He turned back to the doctor. "So what's wrong with Greg?"

"He's severely dehydrated and has a head injury. There's also some bruising on his wrists and back. He needs observation but he'll be fine."

Nick exhaled in relief. "That's great news. Thank you. Can we talk to him now?"

* * *

"Hey, how are you feeling, buddy?" Nick asked with a big smile on his face while sitting down on a chair next to Greg's bed. The young CSI had just opened his eyes.

"...Hey guys..." He smiled back at them while forcing his tired eyes to stay open. He slowly tried to sit up as he rubbed his eyes. "...Where's Riley?"

"We don't know at the moment," Russell said while patting Greg's leg. "We're just glad you're okay."

"You need to find him."

"We know, we're trying to."

"So he did this?" Nick asked angrily.

Greg nodded. "He set me up and I was stupid enough to fall for it. He parked my car in front of my apartment building. When I approached it he must've hit me in the head. I think I woke up in the car but... I didn't really come to until I was tied up in some basement, I think."

"What was his plan?"

Greg shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't think he even had one. He was high and talking quite confusing. He said he was angry at me for changing my locks." He shook his head. "He left soon and didn't come back. I tried to free myself but..." He sighed. "I don't even know how I got here."

Nick gave him a soft smile. "Riley had broken into someone's basement and kept you there. The owner found you. He immediately called 911 and... Well, here you are."

"Wow. So I was lucky, after all."

"You sure were. But Riley wasn't. He had a car accident yesterday."

"...That's why he didn't come back?"

"Mhm... Well... He left the hospital and we're not sure where he is at the moment. But with his injuries he probably couldn't have gone far. Don't worry, we'll find him."

* * *

Two weeks passed before Riley Fishman was finally found. He had been hiding in a basement in the neighborhood where Greg had been found. He couldn't remember which basement it was that he held Greg in, so he just broke into another one. When the owner found him lying in there unconscious and high, she called 911. Riley was handcuffed on his hospital bed. Greg walked up to the criminal. "Hey. Wake up." He not-so-gently patted him on the shoulder.

"...Outch. What the hell, man?!" Riley asked as he opened his eyes. "...Greg. What are you doing here?"

"Making sure it's really you."

"...Oh god. I'm so sorry for what I did. I was on drugs, I didn't know what I was doing."

"Save it. I don't need to hear your excuses."

"No, I really am sorry. I would've never done something like that if it wasn't for the drugs... I have a problem."

"Yeah right. The things you did to me in high school, you did that because of drugs, too?"

"I didn't do drugs in high school," he replied, not understanding what Greg was getting at.

"Doesn't matter. You're going to jail for a very long time."

"...Come on, man. Don't do this to me."

"I'm not. You did this yourself. I do hope your wounds will heal, though. Looks quite painful."

"...It is and they won't give me any good drugs to help it." Riley started crying.

Greg wanted to turn around and leave, but there still was something on his mind he always wanted to tell this guy. "You know. You're a horrible person. You were before you started doing drugs. And while I realize that you probably had a very rough life, I don't think it justifies your behavior towards me in any way. Not now, not back in high school. I never forgave you for it and I never will. Even now that I know that you're nothing but a miserable inmate who'll be willing to do anything for drugs. But the one thing that changed since high school is that I pity you now. You can't imagine how sorry I feel for you. You're a pathetic man and always will be. At least try to get clean one day." He turned around to leave.

"Greg. I'm sorry. You have to believe me."

"I do. I just don't care." He walked towards the door but stopped before walking out. "You know, this'll make for a great story for the next high school reunion, don't you think?" He had a grin on his face when he said that, but it quickly faded as he walked out of the room. He had put a mask on in there, trying to show Riley that he's a stronger person than he is. It was hard to keep that up since he honestly did feel sorry for Riley. In the end, he was a sad man who had many years in prison ahead of him. It didn't really feel like justice to Greg, though. He felt like neither him nor Riley had won. So as he walked out of the hospital, he had the saddest look on his face, feeling bad both for himself and Riley. Ever since high school, he felt, they had a war against each other going on neither one could ever win.

* * *

**Ende.**


End file.
